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Ted Cruz in the Spotlight; Kids and Cars

Aired September 25, 2013 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Brooke Baldwin. Hour two, just in to us here at CNN, chilling new video of the Navy Yard shooter. This is moments before he killed those 12 people. I just want to pause as we watch the video here from the FBI and you will see 34-year-old shooter Aaron Alexis clutching his sawed-off shotgun looking for victims.

We're going to talk about that video here in just a moment.

But, first, I just want to play some sound. FBI held a news conference talking about how the shooter was delusional.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VALERIE PARLAVE, D.C. FBI FIELD OFFICE: At this point, I can confirm that there are multiple indicators that Alexis held a delusional belief that he was being controlled or influenced by extremely low frequency or ELF electromagnetic waves.

The etching of -- quote -- "my ELF weapon" -- close quote -- on the left side of the receiver of the Remington 870 shotgun is believed to reference these electromagnetic waves.

In addition, a document retrieved from the electronic media stated -- quote -- "Ultra-low-frequency attack is what I have been subject to for the last three months. And to be perfectly honest, that is what has driven me to this" -- close quote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I want to bring in justice reporter Evan Perez for us in Washington, also here in studio, HLN law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks.

And, Mike, first to you, as we watch the video. We should point out there was even more graphic video included that FBI news conference that we just aren't showing, but you see him with that sawed-off shotgun walking those halls.

MIKE BROOKS, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. In one of them, you see people at the end of the hallway, running back and forth. And, you know, this is right when he came out of the bathroom. It's just chilling because he sawed off the barrel. He sawed off the stock, wrapped it in tape. You had these etchings.

BALDWIN: Put it together himself in the bathroom.

(CROSSTALK)

BROOKS: Right. He came in, had it in a bag. All you had to do is put the barrel on, screw the barrel on, and he already probably had it loaded up. He had approximately 24 shotgun rounds with him as he was going through there. You see him driving into the Navy Yard. He had his valid I.D., he was waved on through. We see him going through the parking lot, and there, going into 197.

Going into the bathroom and here coming out. And one of the other shots, here we see him coming down from one of the floors. But all the way at the end of the hallway, see the people. You can see people running. That's just unbelievable.

BALDWIN: Yes. And again, the FBI reiterating today that this was absolutely random as he was walking from floor to floor, four different floors here in Building 197.

Evan Perez, we heard the FBI talking about how they said the word from the woman was that he's delusional, that he believed he was being controlled by electromagnetic waves. Talk to me a little bit more about that and also what did the FBI find on this guy's computer?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, that's one of the big questions was, you know, to what extent was his mental health the issue here? It's clear that we have had many reports, the police had that apparently he was hearing voices. He believed that there was some kind of control mechanism, something was controlling him and was trying to control his thoughts.

And what we know is from his hotel room, searching of his computer, the FBI found these messages that he had written in which he describes his fear that he was being controlled by extremely low frequency. This is something that in the Navy, they use ELF to communicate with submarines. It's a Navy term, and perhaps that's where he heard it from. But there's also a lot of conspiracy theories out there about this.

You know, it's something you see on the Internet, and it appears that perhaps his mental health was such that he really believed this, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And, as we know, 12 people shot and killed and he ultimately was shot and killed. Evan Perez and Mike Brooks, thank you.

I should be clear, the FBI chose not to air the graphic material and of course we did not either.

Next, how does Republican Senator Ted Cruz feel after talking about Obamacare? And a lot of other stuff for more than 21 hours on the floor?

Our chief congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, she asked him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: How do you feel standing there for so long?

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Dana, to be honest, I feel terrific. I feel energized that the American people had an opportunity, I hope, to engage in this debate and have their voice heard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Total tally of talking, 21 hours, 18 minutes. That's how long Cruz railed against Obamacare and talked about, well, anything and everything. Here's a sample.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUZ: Some people dismiss, oh, single payer, this is designed to go there, you know, that's just crazy tinfoil-hat wearing stuff.

You know, there's an old saying. Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you. If you will forgive me, I want to take an opportunity to read two bedtime stories to my girls. I do so like green eggs and ham. Thank you, thank you, Sam I am.

Folks in the gallery who just waved, I'm not sure if they have their -- oh, they do have their electronics. Well, if you tweet, it may end up here and I may have the chance to read it. I want to point out just a few words of wisdom from "Duck Dynasty." Redneck rule number one, most things can be fixed with duct tape, extension cords. I will say standing here after 14 hours, standing on your own feet, there's sometimes some pain, sometimes some fatigue that is involved.

But you know what? There's far more pain involved in rolling over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, in the end, Ted Cruz's words didn't do anything to change the Senate vote. Just a couple hours ago, our senators decided to move forward with a temporary government spending bill by a vote of 100-0.

So even Ted Cruz voted with the pack. Here to talk about this and what this really means, this 21 hours and 18 minutes of talking, Patricia Murphy, contributor to The Daily Beast, and political commentator Ben Ferguson.

So, welcome, both of you.

BALDWIN: Ben, "Green Eggs and Ham" and "Duck Dynasty" aside, listen, some of the Tea Party base, they look at Ted Cruz as a hero, but he only did this after those in his own party called him a fraud, wacko bird, "Wall Street Journal" calling his campaign kamikaze. Does it matter really what inspired him to do this?

BEN FERGUSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think what inspired him is when he ran for office, he said, I'm not going to be your normal junior senator that so many Republicans like John McCain and Lindsey Graham have been mocking him as being, some freshman that doesn't know how the real Senate rules work. He said, I'm going to Washington. I'm going to do everything I can to defund Obamacare and then talk about it and make sure every American knows what's in this bill.

So from that perspective, I think he was brilliant. And I think that the fact that you have Barack Obama using the Clintons yesterday to go out and defend the bill that has already been passed a couple years ago, tells you how much of an impact he's having to let people know the details of what's happening. And that was his goal, and I think he accomplished it last night.

BALDWIN: But are you with me in agreeing he did wait until his -- let's say, his manhood was called into question, and the timing of this happened after these names were hurled at him, that he decided to take to the Senate floor?

FERGUSON: I think there's some of that in there, absolutely. I think he was saying, you think I'm going to play your game? You think I'm going to sit here and bow down to you, John McCain, who has had a failure for the last five years of getting anything done conservatively, and Lindsey Graham?

If you look at the Republicans, in the Senate five years, they pretty much as leaders have been failures. He's saying I'm not playing your game because your game is not working. That's why so many people like him right now.

BALDWIN: I want to get to those fault lines that you're drawing here among some of these Republicans in just a minute.

But, Patricia, I read your article and you point out because of this, this racket he created, he's going to make millions of dollars.

PATRICIA MURPHY, THE DAILY BEAST: In this case, he is not making millions of dollars, but I don't think he wants to make millions of dollars personally.

The groups that he supports are making millions of dollars, the conservative groups Club for Growth, Senate Conservatives Action, Senate Conservatives Fund. All of these groups have used the month of August while Ted Cruz was starring in their infomercials, he was starring in their robo-calls. They raised more thank , $1.5 million, over the last month, than they raised in the three months before that. It's the biggest month they have ever had that wasn't an election year.

This kind of outrage he's able to whip up among conservatives is very profitable. I like to call it kind of Defund, Inc. It's a very well- oiled machine. It's sort of a cottage industry in Washington is to raise money off outrage.

The reason other Republicans are so angry with him is that he's using the money not to go after Democrats, but to go after sitting Republicans. Obviously, that is his choice, but this group that he's raising money for has run seven ads against sitting Republican senators. It's certainly no wonder...

(CROSSTALK) MURPHY: ... and they're calling him names. Even the House Republicans are angry with him because he said, oh, you guys need to stand strong. We don't have the votes over here in the Senate. That's why he had to do a filibuster. He had to show that he was willing to fight, too, not just put the fight off on the other guys.

BALDWIN: I believe the word you used is loathe, the feeling of loathing amongst some of those Republicans.

(CROSSTALK)

MURPHY: Not enjoyed.

BALDWIN: Back to you, Ben. You bring up the John McCains, the Lindsey Grahams, the Mitch McConnells. right? You have this group, but then you have, we will call them the new kids on the block, right, the Ted Cruzes, the Marco Rubios, the Rand Pauls. Who's winning among the two groups?

FERGUSON: I think young conservatives and the new kids on the block are.

And last night is proof of it. The money being raised is another thing. But I also think something was just said that I think is incredibly perfect at summarizing Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz did not go to Washington to be a Washington insider. He did not go there to become a lobbyist afterwards and make millions of dollars.

He wasn't joking and wasn't bluffing when he said I'm on a mission to do the things I campaigned on, much the same way that Barack Obama was when he got elected. He said, Republicans, I won, you lost. Get out of my way, I'm doing Obamacare and you're not going to stop me. Even at the Blair House thing, he was saying, we won, you lost.

So I think right now, his stock price is rising. And I think you see these Mitch McConnells and John McCains. They're worried, and they don't like this guy because they hate that he's the center of the attention right now and they're not. That's what this boils down to. They hate that he's on the Sunday morning talk shows instead of them.

It's pure jealousy from the old dogs, who, again, they have been failing for five years, and John McCain, let's not forget, got destroyed by Barack Obama, and many conservatives haven't forgotten that, either.

BALDWIN: I'm sure Ted Cruz cares about Iowa and South Carolina and New Hampshire and the view from those states.

Patricia Murphy, last word.

MURPHY: Yes. Listen, this guy is a Washington insider. He was Supreme Court clerk. He worked in the Bush administration. He worked on the George W. Bush campaign. George W. Bush ran up that deficit before Obama doubled down on it. He's a Washington insider of a different kind. He has a cottage industry. He's the general. He's trying to get some new lieutenants. The old guys don't like that, but he's pretty soon going to be -- he's going to be one of them pretty soon.

BALDWIN: Patricia Murphy and Ben Ferguson, thank you both very much. Got to leave it there.

Coming up, taking aim at Michael Jackson's mother. The defense claims she missed calls for help from her own son. Closing statements in his wrongful death suit are under way with some pretty ugly accusations flying between these two sides.

Plus, it's a story that impacts any one of you who sits behind the wheel, some parents outraged saying the Obama administration failed to fulfill a promise that would make our cars safer. Now they're demanding answers. We will explain that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now to a feud brewing today over protecting people, and especially our children, from being backed over by cars.

The federal government just recommended that new cars be built with these rear-view video systems. But a safety group filed a lawsuit today against the Department of Transportation saying this -- quote, unquote -- "recommendation," that that's not enough.

Parents in this group say the Obama administration is backing down from a law passed five years ago that put a 2011 deadline for a federal rule on rear visibility. Now the group's lawsuit calls for a mandatory rule within 90 days.

Just to give you an idea as far as how serious back-over crashes are, here's some numbers for you. More than 200 people are killed, 17,000 people injured every year. And kids under age 5 make up 44 percent of those deaths, the driver oftentimes being a parent or a family member, and I'll never forget this interview.

This hit incredibly close to home for a mother I talked to on the show just this past April. Her name was Karen Pauly. And can you imagine? She accidentally backed over and killed her son just a couple years ago. And so this mother is part of this group that's pushing for a mandatory ruling and she told me why we all need these rear-view cameras and how she's dealing with the loss of her son.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN PAULY, ACCIDENTALLY BACKED OVER SON: We have a picture where there's 63 children behind an SUV, and if you -- and you look in the side mirror and you can't see any of them. That is how big of a blind zone there is behind the car.

It's still a daily struggle, but I have a great family and great friends. And being involved with Kids and Cars really helped to try to make sure that these accidents stop happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let me bring my legal experts back in, attorneys Darren Kavinoky and Faith Jenkins.

And, Darren, first question to you. Should this be up to the government or should this be up to us, the consumer?

DARREN KAVINOKY, ATTORNEY: Yes, this is something that should be up to the government. This is one of the few times when I really like the government getting involved because companies have said, look, it should be up to consumers about what they want to spend their dollars on.

But this is all about safety for the most vulnerable people in our society, children. It's children that are getting injured and killed. And when it comes to seat belts, we have all accepted...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: They're in all of our cars.

(CROSSTALK)

KAVINOKY: ... and for seat belts. We might as well pay for these back-up cameras, too. It's a small price to pay. It's a couple hundred dollars.

BALDWIN: Even if someone says, hey, I don't have kids.

(CROSSTALK)

KAVINOKY: But other people do. Guess what? Other people have kids. They're the ones that are getting hurt. This is a no-brainer.

BALDWIN: Faith, Darren says no-brainer. Do you agree, A., and, B., do you think the Department of Transportation has been unreasonable in delaying this issue?

FAITH JENKINS, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Brooke, this is not a controversial issue here.

The Department of Transportation has done their research. They have admittedly done extensive research on this issue. They know there's a blind spot in cars. They know that having these rear-view cameras will help, and, yes, they have been unreasonable with the delay. Congress enacted a deadline of 2011. Now they're saying they're not going to make a mandatory ruling until 2015.

I'm happy the consumers are going to court, they filed the lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment because now the government has to say, why, why is there a delay again until 2015? They have to put that on the record now.

BALDWIN: It's hard to argue with a mother who accidentally ran over her little boy a couple years ago. It's was awful, awful, awful.

Faith Jenkins and Darren Kavinoky, we will see if there's change. Thanks to both of you.

KAVINOKY: Thanks.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, the defense team for the concert promoter accused in Michael Jackson's death is telling the jury some -- quote -- "ugly" stuff about Jackson's life and his mother. That's coming for you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Want to take you to Los Angeles now to the closing arguments in the Michael Jackson wrongful death trial.

So, moments ago, an attorney for Jackson's last concert promoter told the jury why AEG Live is not responsible for the death of the pop star.

Here, attorney Marvin Putnam arguing the concert promoter never signed a contract hiring Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray. He also said that Michael Jackson trusted Murray with his own children. Here he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARVIN PUTNAM, ATTORNEY: Everyone talks about what an amazing dad Mr. Jackson was. We're not saying he wasn't, but Mr. Jackson thought enough of Dr. Murray to let him provide medical treatment to his own children. It was one of the reasons he was bringing him to London, we believed.

And AEG believed that this doctor that Michael Jackson selected was competent and ethical. Nothing in Dr. Murray's job description, treating general medical needs, remotely suggests that Dr. Murray, who wasn't a trained anesthesiologist, would be administering a hospital- grade anesthetic in Mr. Jackson's bedrooms behind locked doors at night to help him sleep. Nothing.

Dr. Murray went way outside the scope of this job description in what he and Mr. Jackson decided to do with propofol. His conduct was so far beyond the pale that he was convicted of the crime of manslaughter. And if you believe Dr. Murray's job was to administer propofol, that just shows you even more that AEG Live wasn't the one who hired him, because AEG Live had no idea.

And the evidence proves AEG Live had absolutely no idea that Dr. Murray was administering propofol to Michael Jackson behind his locked bedroom doors. So if you think administering propofol was Dr. Murray's job, then you know that was a job that only Mr. Jackson could have hired him to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: CNN's Alan Duke just left the courtroom.

Alan, it wasn't just the kids the defense mentioned today, also the mother, also Katherine Jackson. ALAN DUKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Katherine Jackson, in the courtroom herself, watching this, she's had some harsh words exchanged on the stand with this attorney, Marvin Putnam.

It was interesting watching her as she had to listen to him this morning sum up the case against her argument that AEG Live is liable for her son's death. By the way, her grandkids Taj and T.J. are in there, along with daughter Rebbie Jackson.

BALDWIN: Alan, Jackson's lawyers told the jury exactly how much they want this concert promoter AEG Live to pay the mother, the kids here. What's the breakdown?

DUKE: Well, they're asking for up to $1.5 billion for damages, money to compensate them for what Michael Jackson didn't earn because he died, lost earnings capacity, and then another $290 million for non- economic or personal losses, divided up mostly with his three children, but with $35 million that would go to Katherine Jackson.

This was the Jackson lawyer's suggestion to them. It will be the jury that will decide if there are damages and what they might be. AEG is going to argue there should be none.

BALDWIN: Alan Duke for us in L.A., Alan, thank you.

Coming up next, enrollment for Obamacare begins Monday. What does that mean for you? Depends on who you ask. The CNN fact-check team takes a look at some of the most popular claims. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Near the bottom of the hour, I'm Brooke Baldwin.

And $328 a month, that's what the Obama administration says the average health insurance premium will cost you in the exchanges it's setting up under Obamacare. That's $328 for a mid-level policy. This is before subsidies. Exchanges open for business early next week. I know a lot of people are still very confused about this whole Obamacare process, the impact, so there's a lot of misinformation out there.

Let's clear it up, shall we?

Tom Foreman is here with a check on a couple of facts for us.

Tom Foreman, hello.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brooke. How you doing?

Let's start with a very popular claim among many opponents of Obamacare. Here it is. Obamacare is forcing small businesses overseas. This is what they say. Senator Ted Cruz from Texas, as you may know, has been talking a lot about health care reform, and what he refers to as millions of business owners who are feeling financial pressure over this law. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUZ: The millions of small business owners who are considering moving operations overseas or have already because of Obamacare.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: In all likelihood, some companies are indeed in that situation, but millions? Let's break it down.

There are about six million small businesses in America. And about 97 percent of them have fewer than 50 full-time employees, meaning under this law, they do not have to provide insurance to their workers. Only the bigger small businesses have to do that. So the mandate applies to only about 200,000 of those businesses.

So even if all of them were moving overseas -- and they're not -- this claim of millions would still be overreaching, on top of which, we should mention this whole employer mandate has been delayed for the time being anyway -- Brooke.